More than half of SMEs in Scotland have had difficulty getting payments from customers, claims research.

But canny Scots spend more time chasing payment and as a result have less money owed to them on average than companies in any part of the country.

Bacs Payment Schemes Limited, the industry body behind Direct Debit, found the value of late payments to SMEs across the UK was £18.6 billion - up £2.6 billion from 2006.

In Scotland businesses spend more time than anywhere else chasing overdue notices with an average of 2.9 hours a week spent on the task. That works out to 20 working days a year, which is three more than the national average.

Around 20 per cent of Scots are also likely to employ someone specifically to chase late payments.

But the good news was Scots' diligence in chasing debtors meant the average amount of money owed to them was £8,000 against a national figure of £30,000.